lugrin



1N0 M del.) 4 Sheets-Sheet 1,.

H. A. LUGRIN.

STOP WATCH No. 552,715. Patented Jan. '7, 1896.

0 wM W 5 J y 6 VI J B Q E WITNESSES:

ATTORNEY.

ANDREW acRAHAMPHOTO-UMO WASHIMGTulLnc (No Model.) 4 sheets-Sheet 2. H. A. LUGRIN. STOP WATCH Patented Jan. 7, 1896.

ATTORNEY.

AN DREW B GRAHAM. PHOTOLWQWASHINGTDN. D C.

4 Sheets-Sheet 3,

(N0'Mode1..) H. A. LUGRIN.

STOP WATCH Patented Jan. '7, 1896.

NVENTOB JM (Z/ M *i I WITNESSES. QQLW A TTORNEY.

(No Model.) 4 SheetsSheet 4,

H. A. LUGRIN, STOP WATCH.

No. 552,715. Patented Jan. '7, 1896.

ATTORNEY.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

TO MAURICE D.

FIELDING, OF NEWV YORK, N. Y.

STO P-WATCH.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 552,715, dated January *7, 1896.

Application filed February 19, 1895. Serial No. 538,961. (No model.)

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lleretofore it has been customary to provide ordinary timekeeping-watches with an additional or fly-back hand, which, at the will of the operator, could be started to indicate fractions of seconds and stopped at will and returned to its original posit-ion, and also to provide watches with two fiy-back hands, also arranged to be started together and to he stopped independently of each other and to be returned to the initial position, and it has also been customary to construct timingpieces that were not provided with any timeindicating hands but with a fly-back hand only.

The fly-back hands and the mechanisms heretofore applied on ordinary timekeepingwa-tches made the latter very costly and apt to get out of order, requiring frequent and ex pensive repairs, and, furthermore, the mechanism for operating the fly-back hands interfered seriously with the timekeeping qualities of the watch, thus materially reducing the reliability and value of the watch as a timekeeper, and the ordinary timekeeping mechanism also interfered with the proper action of the fly-back hands, frequently making the reliability of the latter very questionable.

The devices constructed without timekeeping mechanism were usually of a cheap grade and not very reliable and had only one or at the utmost two fly'back hands.

The object of my invention is to provide a new and improved timing-instrument for taking the speeding-time of a horse or man at the four quarters of a mile or taking the time of from one to four horses or men and indicating the time elapsed in minutes, seconds and fractions of seconds, and which instrument is so constructed that the four hands can be started ively-for example, one at each quarter-mile for one horse, or one when each horse or man arrives at the goalwithout interfering with the others and looked in this position until the times have been recorded, when the several hands together can be thrown back to the initial position.

A further object of my invention is to provide a new and improved iniinite-indicator, which also serves to indicate whether the instrument is wound or set for operation or not.

A further object of my invention is to pro vide means for stopping the balance-wheel at the same time the last hand is stopped, in such a manner that as soon as the hands are again started the balance-wheel is also started.

A further object of my invention is to simplify the construction of the entire mechanism and to make it reliable, not apt to get out of order and to reduce the cost of the instrument.

The invention consists in a timing-instrument provided with a series of seconds-indicating hands, which are so mounted and driven that they can be started together and stopped successively, and said hands can'then all be thrown back to the initial position, ready for a new race.

The invention further consists in a timinginstrument having a series of seconds-indicating hands and a separate minute-indicating hand, which latter is driven independently of the gearing for driving the seconds-indicatin hands.

The invention further consists in atiminginstrument having a series of seconds-indicating hands and a push-pin for controlling and working the mechanism for starting and stopping, throwing back to the initial position said hands, and a motor-spring which can be placed in tension to give the requisite power by pulling said push-pin outward.

The invention also consists in the construction and combination of parts and details, as will be fully described and set forth hereinafter, and finally pointed out in the claims.

In the accompanying drawings, forming a part of this specification, and in which like letters of reference indicate like parts in all views, Figure 1 is avertical transverse the sectional view of my improved timing-instrument on the line 1 1 of Fig. 4 the case being omitted. Fig. 2 is a vertical transverse sectional view of the same at right angles to the section shown in Fig. 1 and on the line 2 2 of Fig. 4, parts being omitted. Fig. 3 is a horizontal sectional View on the line 3 3 of Fig. 1. Fig. 4 is an enlarged detail horizontal sect-ional View on the line 4 4 of Fig. 1. Fig. 5 is a face View of the dial.

The entire mechanism is supported by the three plates A, A, and A which are suitably connected with each other in the usual manner by posts and screws. The dial A is fastened on the plate A in such a manner as to cover the recessed face of the same, and a circular line along the rim of the dial is divided into sixty equal parts representing seconds, and each such part is again divided into four parts representing quarter-seconds.

The subdivision of the dial forms no part of my invention and may be varied as may be desired.

The timing-instrument has four superimposed hands I, II, III, and IV, each fixed to a separate arbor. The hands are of the same length and bear the Roman numerals I II III IV, which are arranged different distances from the center so as not to cover each other, the Roman I beingnearest the rim, the Roman numeral II next, and so on.

The hand I is fixed on the solid center arbor B, one end of which is mounted on the bridge A fixed on the outer surface of the plate A, and directly below said bridge a heart-cam O and a disk D are fixed on the said arbor B. The ends of spring-fingers E, which are secured to posts F on the plate A, rest on the top of the disk D and serve to press the same in the direction toward the dial A The said fingers are adjusted to produce as little friction as possible 011 the disk D, and the tension of said spring-fingers is such as not to produce sufficient friction to interfere with the free rotating of the disk, at the same time, however, being suflicient to press the disk toward the dial as much as required for a purpose that will be set forth hereinafter. The rim of the disk D rests upon the prongs G of a forked spring-pressed lever pivoted in a manner that will be described later on. A spring presses or draws the forked end of the forked lever in the direction toward the dial, and said forked lever by means of another lever operated from a cam-barrel can be pressed in the direction from the dial and thereby moves the disk D in the direction from the dial, as will be more fully set forth in relation to the mechanism for operating the hands III and IV. The pivoted heart-cam lever R, on which a cam barrel P can act, serves for throwing the heart-cam O and with it the arbor B and hand I into the initial position.

The hand II is fixed on one end of a tubular arbor B surrounding the arbor B and carrying at its inner end the disk D and heart-cam G on which latter the heart-cam lever B can act to throw it into the initial position. Spring-fingers E press the disk D upon the prongs G of a forked lever, also pivoted in a manner that will appear hereinafter. 011 said forked lever a separate lever acts, which is also operated from the cambarrel.

The hand III is fixed on one end of a tubular arbor B surrounding the arbor B and carrying at its inner end the disk D and the heart-cam G on which latter the heartcam lever R can act under the tension of its spring S which presses a short lever S against the cam-barrel P. The disk D is pressed by two spring-fingers E upon the prongs G of a forked lever H pivoted by a screw J 3 to a lug J 6 on the plate A in such a manner that the free end of said lever II can swing toward and from the dial. A spring K fixed on the plate A has its free end engaged with the lever H in such a manner as to pull the said lever in the direction toward the dial. The free end of each prong G is provided with a recess 0, through which the spring-fingers pass. A lever L pivoted 011 the plate A is provided with a beveled or rounded head M which can act on the under side of the forked lever H and press said lever in the direction from the dial, and said lever L has an arm N on which the cam-barrel P can act, a spring Q acting on the lever L and serving to press the arm N against the cam-barrel P.

The hand IV is fixed on the end of a tubular arbor l3 surrounding the tubular arbor B and carrying at its inner end the disk D and the heart-cam C The heart-cam lever R" acts under the tension of a spring S", which presses an arm of the heart-cam lever against the cam-barrel P. Spring-fingers E press the disk D toward the dial and upon the prongs G of a forked lever II", pivoted in the manner described above and acted upon by a lever Ir, having an arm N that is pressed by the spring Q against the cam-barrel P. The spring K presses the lever H in the direction toward the dial. The disk D is provided on its under side with two fine teeth or projections 25, that can pass into corresponding recesses or notches in the upper surface of the heart-cam C The disk D is provided on its under side with like teeth i that can pass into notches or recesses in the upper surface of the disk D The heart-cam C in like manner is provided with teeth that can pass into recesses or notches in the upper surface of the heartcam C, and the disk D' is provided on itsunder side with teeth t, that can engage fine teeth t arranged in a circle on the upper surface of a disk D along the rim, which disk D is fixed on the inner end of a sleeve B surrounding the tubular arbor B and mounted to turn in an aperture of the plate A.

The sleeve 13 carries the wheel T, having sixty four teeth and engaged with the transmitting-wheel T of the same number of teeth and engaging the pinion T on the arbor of the escapement-wheel V, which is engaged with the escapement lever or anchor V, which in turn operates the balance-wheel V in the usual manner. The sleeve 13 also carries a pinion TV, which engages a cog-wheel W, the arbor of which carries a loose ratchet-wheel V that is engaged by a spring-pressed pawl \V on the wheel W, and said loose ratchetwheel is made integral with a pinion U engaged witha curved rack U formed on the end of a lever U pivoted atU and provided with a curved arm U. A spring U fixed on one of the plates has its free end rested on the arm U and presses the lever in the direction of the arrow an The arm U' of the lever U rests against one end of a pivoted lever Y, the opposite end of which bears against the arm Y of a shaft Y on which arm the free end of a spring Y bears.

A hand X, above the outer face of the dial, is fixed on the shaft Y and can swing over an arc of a circle divided into five equal parts, as shown at X in Figs. 3 and 5.

The cam-barrel P is provided with siX camteeth P and is made integral with a ratchetwheel P having thirty siX teeth, which ratchet-wheel P can be turned by means of the spring hook-pawl P pivoted on one end of the pivoted lever P, on which the spring P acts. On the free end of said lever P the tooth of a lever I can act, and on the free end of said lever 1 a push-pin I can act when the same is pushed inward, whereby the spring-pawl P is caused to rotate the ratchet-wheel P in the direction opposite to the arrow 0;, as shown in Fig. 3. A pin 1 projecting from the push-pin 1 serves to actuate a lever a, the other end of which rests 011 a projection U of the lever U A lever a pivoted at a is pressed by a spring (Z against the cam-barrel P and is provided with a spring-arm e, which connects it with one arm of an angle-lever f pivoted at g, the other arm f of which angle-lever is provided with teethj inclined toward the balance-wheel V and adapted to engage and look a pin is, projecting from the rim of said balance-wheel. A stop-pin Z serves to limit the throw of the arm f of the angle-lever f.

m m are clicksprings for the ratchet wheel P The operation is as follows: Before the timing-instrument is to be used the hands must all be at the initial position-that is, at 60 of the dial. The several heart-cam levers rest in the notches of the several heart-cams and thereby hold the hands in the above positions. The pins 75 25 &c., of the several disks, D, D D, and D are out of the corresponding notches in the several heart-cams and disk D respectively. The hand X points to the subdivision 5 of the arc X of the dial, indicating that the mainspring or motor-spring U is not wound or tightened, and therefore the first thing to be done is to tighten or wind said spring, so as to cause the same to give the power required for driving the mechanism. For this purpose the push-pin I is pulled outward, whereby one end of the lever a is pulled outward and the other end resting on the projection U of the lever U is pressed inward,

and thereby the curved rack U on the inner end of said lever is swung in the inverse direction of the arrow 00, whereby the pinion U and ratchet-wheel V are turned in the inverse direction of the arrows without affecting the cog-wheel WV. Atthe same time the spring U which is the motor or main spring, is pressed by the arm U in the direction toward the rim of theplates and is brought in tension. The arm U being moved from the end of the lever Y permits the spring Y to swing the arm Y of the shaft Y in such a manner that the hand X is brought to 0 on the arc X on the dial, thus indicating that the motor-spring is in tension and that the mechanism can be started. WVhen the horses or men to be timed start, the push-pin I is pushed inward, whereby the end of the lever I is also moved inward and the hook-pawl P turns the ratchet-wheel P the distance of one tooth and the cam-barrel P the distance of one-sixth of the distance between two of its teeth. By this movement of the cam-barrel the several heart-cam levers are thrown off the several heart-cams and at the same time the forked levers acting on the several disks D D D D are thrown toward the rims so as to permit the springs acting on said forked levers to press the same toward the dial, whereby the teeth 15 &c., on the several disks D D D D arebrought into the notches in the adjacent heart-cams and disks and into the recesses between the teeth of the disk D respectively, under the action of the several spring-fingers E E &c. At the same time the end of the lever a slides off the tooth of the cam-barrel P on which it rested and by the spring cl is thrown toward the center of the cam-barrel, whereby the toothed arm f of the lever f is thrown from the rim of the balance-wheel, and, releasing the pin it on the rim of the balance-wheel, permits said balance-wheel to oscillate under the action of its hair-spring V The driving mechanism is thus released, and, as the disks D D D D of the several hands are operatively connected with each other and with the disk D, which is driven, by means of the gearing described, from the motor-spring, the fourhands simultaneously begin to rotate over the dial in jumps of quarter-seconds. They continue to move in this manner until the horse arrives at the first quarter or the first horse or man arrives at the goal, when the push-pin l is again pushed inward and the cam-barrel again turned one-sixth of the distance between two of its teeth, whereby the lever acting on the forked lever under the disk D is moved toward the center of the mechanism and forces said disk upward against the spring-fingers E, so as to disengage its pins t from the heartcam 0 directly below it, which heart-cam, however, continues to rotate. Thereby the hand I is stopped, as it is no longer connected with the driving mechanism. Then the horse arrives at the second quarter or the second horse or man has arrived at the goal, the

push-pin I is again pushed inward and the cam-barrel P is rotated one-sixth of the distance between two of its teeth, and the lever acting on the forked lever of the disk D is moved toward the center, so as to force said forked lever in the direction from the dial and lift the pins 15 of said disk D free from the heart-cam 0 directly below it, whereby the seconds-hand II is stopped. By another push on the push-pin I the hand III is stopped in like manner when the horse arrives at the third quarter or the third horse or man has reached the goal, and finally when the horse arrives at the mile or the fourth man or horse has reached the goal the hand IV is stopped by again pushing the pn sh-pin I inward, as thereby the disk D is lifted off the toothed disk D. At the same time the cam-barrel acts on the lever to, and thereby the arm f of the anglelever f is thrown toward the rim of the balancewheel V and engages the pin it, thereby locking the balance-wheel and absolutely stopping the driving mechanism as soon as the last hand IV is stopped. As the teeth on the arm f are beveled, as shown, toward the balancewhcel, and the an gle-le ver fis connected with the lever a by a spring-arm e, the balancewheel can complete its stroke in the direction of its arrow at, but is prevented from swinging back, so that the hair-spring V will be in full tension when the mechanism is started again and will properly operate at once. After the records made by the single man or horse on quarter miles or by the several men or horses have been taken the push-pin I is again pushed inward, and thereby the several heart-cam levers are thrown toward the several heart-cams, and throw all the hands to the initial position of 60 on the dial and the instrument is ready for use for a second race. As the driving mechanism runs down, the free end of the motor-sprin g U moves inward and presses the arm U' of the lever U inward, and, as the same acts 011 the lever Y and the latter acts against the spring Y moves the hand X over the arc X from 0 toward 5, thereby indicating in minutes the time that has elapsed since the starting of the race. Said minutes-indicating hand X stops at the same time that the driving mechanism stops.

It is evident that the several levers operated from the cam-barrel and serving to operate the forked levers acting on the disks D, D D and D must be so arranged and must have arms of such length that they slide off the cams of the cam-barrel successively and at the proper times.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. A timing instrument constructed with three or more concentric seconds hands, a separate arbor for each hand, a driving mechanism, means for operating one of the arbors from the driving mechanism, means for operating the remaining arbors, one from the other, a heart cam on each arbor, a heart cam lever for each arbor, a lever for each arbor for throwing the same in or out of gear and a single cam barrel for actuating all the several heart cam levers and all the several levers for throwing the arbors in and out of gear, substantially as herein shown and described.

2. A timing instrument, constructed with a series of concentric seconds hands, a separate arbor for each hand, a disk on each arbor, spring fingers acting 011 each disk to press the same, and its arbor in the direction of its length toward a dial, a lever for each arbor for pressing the same in the direction from the dial, a heart cam 011 each arbor a heart cam lever for each heart cam and a common cam barrel for operating all such levers, substantially as herein shown and described.

3. A timing instrument, constructed with three or more concentric seconds hands, an arbor for each hand, a disk on each arbor, spring fingers bearing 011 each disk to press the same and its arbor in the direction toward a diala forked spring actuated lever for each disk, for moving the same in the direction from the dial, a separate lever for each forked lever, a heart cam 011 each arbor, a heart cam lever for each heart cam and a common cam barrel for operating the several levers, substantially as herein shown and described.

4. A timing instrument, constructed with a series of concentric seconds hands, an arbor for each hand, a disk on each arbor, which disks on the several arbors can be engaged with and disengaged from each other and means for shifting the disks successively for these purposes, substantially as herein shown and described.

5. A timing instrument, constructed with a series of seconds hands mounted concentrically, a driving gear for operating said hands, a balance-wheel. in said driving gear, a pin projecting from said balance-wheel, a tooth lever for engaging said pin, devices for starting the hands together, devices for stopping them successively, and a cam-barrel for operating said devices and the toothed lever acting on the balance-wheel pin, substantially as set forth.

6. A timing instrument, constructed with a series of seconds hands mounted concentrically, a driving gear for rotating said hands, a balance-wheel in said driving gear, a pin projecting from said balance-wheel, a pivoted angle-lever provided with teeth for engaging said pin, a cam-barrel, a lever operated by the cam-barrel, a spring-arm connecting said lever with the toothed lever, devices for starting the several hands together, and devices for stopping the several hands successively, which devices are all operated from the same cam-barrel, substantially as set forth.

7. A timing instrument, constructed with a series of seconds hands, mounted concentrically, a driving gear for rotating said hands, a balance wheel in said driving gear, a pin projecting from said balance wheel, a pivoted angle lever provided with teeth for engaging ITO said pin, a cam barrel, a lever operated by the cam barrel, a spring arm connecting said lever with the toothed lever, devices for starting the several hands, devices for stopping the several hands successively, which devices are all operated from the cam barrel, substantially as herein shown and described.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my invention I have signed my name, in presence of two Witnesses, this 13th day of Febrn- IO ary, 1895.

HENRY A. LUGRIN.

Witnesses:

OSCAR F. GUNZ, N. M. FLANNERY. 

